"Cough—cough!!"
Clutching his chest, Perospero convulsed in violent coughs. Blood seeped through the gaps between his fingers, staining the candy-bright ground below.
He forced his head up to look at the slowly approaching Gern, twisting his lips into a warped smile. There was even a trace of deliberate admiration in his tone.
"Perorin… what a… truly terrifying ability…" he rasped between breaths. "No wonder… no wonder that Blackbeard Teach, after stealing Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi… dared to come negotiate with Mama once he recovered from his injuries… Seems he's already tasted this world-destroying power for himself…"
Gern, who had been about to reach down and hoist up this "candy gift," suddenly paused.
His brows drew together sharply.
He crouched down at once, voice tightening as he pressed for answers.
"Blackbeard… met with Big Mom?"
His speech quickened.
"That man's current target should be Wang Zhi on Pirate Hive Island. Why would he suddenly come to Totto Land instead?"
Perospero blinked in surprise. Not only did Gern know of Blackbeard's existence, he even knew his likely recent objective.
But the astonishment faded quickly.
With the Marines' intelligence network spanning the seas, it wasn't strange at all.
So Perospero tried to ride the momentum of the topic, attempting to muddy the waters further.
"What exactly he discussed with Mama is private. I don't know the details, but—"
Before he could finish—
Gern's hand shot forward and clamped around his head, lifting him straight off the ground in one brutal motion.
The sudden force distorted Perospero's face. He was forced into direct eye contact with Gern.
"I have to admit, Perospero… you really are clever." Gern's voice gradually cooled, slowing into something more deliberate. "Even at a time like this, you casually bring up Blackbeard's meeting with Big Mom. Trying to drag me into your murky waters?"
"You want me focused on Blackbeard. You want me involved… or perhaps…" His gaze sharpened. "You want to use my hand to deal with him."
Gern stared into the faint tremor in Perospero's pupils, then slowly shook his head, as if reconsidering his own conclusion.
"No. No… it's not that simple."
"You're the eldest son of Big Mom. The Candy Minister. And yet from the moment you discovered I had stepped onto Candy Island until now, I haven't seen a single other family officer arrive as reinforcement."
He paused, then let out a cold laugh.
"Heh. That means from the instant you realized I had entered Totto Land alone, you already formed a plan."
"You didn't notify anyone. Not your siblings. Not even your mother—Charlotte Linlin."
Perospero's body stiffened, just slightly.
"And now," Gern continued, voice turning razor-thin, "Blackbeard is your real objective."
"You're worried about him. Worried that cooperation between him and Big Mom will bring ruin upon Totto Land?"
One layer at a time, Gern peeled away every calculation and pretense.
The feigned panic and pain on Perospero's face slowly dissolved.
In its place appeared something almost relieved—resigned to being seen through.
The corners of his lips tugged upward faintly.
"You're right," he admitted hoarsely. "I've met Blackbeard."
"He's neither a hero burdened with honor like Whitebeard… nor a tyrant pursuing supremacy like Kaido…"
His eyes grew solemn, shadowed with deep wariness.
"He is a true pirate—in the purest sense of the word."
"Greedy. Cunning. Without limits."
"If he cooperates with Mama, the Big Mom Pirates will gain nothing of real benefit. In the end, we'll simply be devoured."
Making a deal with a tiger would only end with becoming its prey.
A near-obsessive light flickered in Perospero's eyes.
As the eldest son of the Big Mom Pirates, he had always believed—deep down—that in terms of seniority and capability, he was the most suitable heir to this vast pirate empire.
He believed firmly that only under Mama Charlotte Linlin's leadership could the Big Mom Pirates laugh last upon this sea.
Only Mama deserved to be crowned the true Pirate King.
But now, that conviction was being battered from within and without.
"Mama…" Perospero's voice carried a complicated emotion—reverence tinged with a faint, nearly imperceptible grievance. "She's too kind."
"Or rather… she trusts too much in her own strength and judgment."
"Once she decides something benefits Totto Land, no one can stop her. And right now, Blackbeard has clearly offered terms that tempt her."
"And just when I was at a loss…" He lifted his gaze toward Gern, and—astonishingly—there was a trace of expectation within it.
"You… happened to arrive, Heaven-Shaker."
"What exactly are they cooperating on?" Gern ignored that subtle appeal and cut straight to the core.
Perospero let out a bitter chuckle and shook his head.
"I truly don't know."
"Mama's decisions—especially private negotiations at that level—the details are known only to her and Blackbeard."
"Otherwise, I—"
Before he could finish—
A white spherical aura erupted without warning from Gern's palm, which was still gripping his head. It radiated with terrifying vibrations.
"Urgh—!"
Perospero's vision turned blinding white. Every thought, every sensation was violently severed in an instant.
His mind went blank.
He didn't even manage a grunt.
His body convulsed once, violently—then went limp. His head lolled to the side as consciousness vanished entirely.
Gern released him, letting the unconscious Perospero collapse onto the candy ground like a discarded carcass.
He flicked his wrist, expression impatient.
"Don't know, and you still wasted my time…"
Bending down, he grabbed the back collar of Perospero's pale yellow long coat with one hand and hauled him up.
Then he turned and began walking toward the heart of Totto Land—the direction of Whole Cake Chateau.
Perospero's toes dragged uselessly along the glossy candy pavement, carving two faint trails behind them.
"Hah… Guess I'll have to ask that old hag myself."
He glanced ahead.
"Whole Cake Island's this way, right?"
He shrugged.
"Whatever. I'll just ask along the way."